I don't think some modern engineers would be successful back then because today many rely on the abundance of online resources, code schools, and such. I was on

I don't think some modern engineers would be successful back then because today many rely on the abundance of online resources, code schools, and such. I was only 2 at that time but when I learned programming on an Apple II+ a few years later I was entirely dependent on having a mentor (my father). I wouldn't have known where to go for help or what books to read otherwise. There was no concept of going online as far as I was concerned and the only way to get basic information about computing was through the network of people you knew, where only a small percentage of which had any interest in computers.